Shock tactics in parking protest outside Lincolnshire primary school

SHOCK tactics have been used in a bid to highlight the importance of safe parking outside a local primary school.

Officers from Wainfleet, Burgh and Friskney Neighbourhood Policing Team organised an event at Burgh Le Marsh Primary School to raise awareness of parking issues amongst the local community.

A number of Year 6 pupils, who were recently appointed as Junior Road Safety Officers (JRSOs) at the school, have been working with Police Community Support Officers and came up with the idea of staging an accident in front of the school gates.

Parents arriving to collect their children from school were able to see the shocking aftermath of the 'accident'.

A pushchair was lying on its side in the middle of the road, close to where paramedics were attending a seriously injured child.

The road had been closed off and police were dealing with the driver.

PCSO Pete Cobley said: "It was a very wet day when we staged the event but that was ideal as it is in those sort of conditions that parents may be more tempted to try to park closer to the school, pulling up on the zig zag lines and causing a hazard to children when visibility is already reduced by the weather.

"We aim to encourage more parents to leave the car at home, dress for the weather, and enjoy the walk to and from school."

Local residents were fully supportive of the event.

The JRSOs visited all the homes in Wainfleet Road beforehand to tell them about the plan and to also hear their concerns about safety issues related to the road.

Pupils at the school later made a video about the event, which they have uploaded to You Tube.

Comments

Parents dropping off children at schools across the country are the biggest threat their own children's lives and that of others by the way they park and allowing the children to alight from the vehicle into the traffic. Children have no sense of danger these days running between parked vehicles into the road .
This as got to be a very good thing to open the parents eyes to the dangers they create through their irresponsible actions.

"We really don't need Year 6 pupils (whatever they are) policing our roads,"
Those Year 6 pupils, (10/11 year olds as you don't seem to know), are the drivers of the future. The hope is that, when they are parents, they are less mindlessly selfish than the present generation of parents who don't seem to care whom they endanger or inconvenience in their fight for the spaces nearest to the school door.

George
It is about changing attitudes - these children are the ones who are at risk - it might bring home to parents and others the potential and real consequences of the school run and parking in no parking zones.
Going by your comments, yours is one of the attitudes that need changing.

Hold on second, theres a dead child laying in the road, with her little brother and daddy looking on and the police are to busy? Are you saying the school and those children are over egging this situation? oohhh shame on you.

Well it hasn't worked so far and every couple of years we see stories running along the same lines, there was one last year about kids giving out home made parking tickets. Enforce the law and not only will it generate some instant income, once a few licenses have been lost and insurance fees have gone up through having points on the license it will stop.

I disagree with "GeorgeSomme". While there is a place for enforcement, in the long term issues around road safety are best resolved by education to affect long term change in behaviours of all road users - pedestrian, cyclist and driver. In my view this sort of staged incident (clearly well planned and executed by all concerned) can only be a positive thing.

We really don't need Year 6 pupils (whatever they are) policing our roads, what we need is a randomly targetted attack by the police on the roads around schools and apply the law as it should be applied, points on licenses and fines for those drivers who break the law.